Good golly, Miss Polley

>> Sarah Polley knocks 'em dead in Guinevere

by MATTHEW HAYS

What's most striking about meeting actor Sarah Polley in person is her size. This woman is so terrifically petite, the word waif doesn't quite convey her proportions. But with her delicate features, golden hair and aura of innocence, one can certainly understand how the camera works so well with her.

Polley is increasingly the focus of much press (see the recent Interview cover and the current Saturday Night), in which she discusses her negative attitudes towards Tinseltown and all its trappings. Canada, she insists, is the place for her, and though she enjoys working, she doesn't want to end up a slave to the star machine.

It's a bit of a cliched stance, the here-I-am-being-a-big-star-but-I-don't-care chic that we hear so much of. But Polley, who stopped over in Montreal ("a beautiful city") to plug Guinevere at the World Film Fest, seems mighty genuine.

"I try not to pay any attention to the press," she tells me, again seeming real. "Canada's a bit of a different beast, and that's why I like staying here. They're not so starstruck, not as obsessed as Americans are." She likens L.A. to "a constant state of nausea." (Funny. I was about to say the same thing about T.O.)

Despite her animosity towards La-La Land, Polley continues to get cast, and to get lots of attention for her roles. Declared the It Girl at Sundance by Entertainment Weekly, Polley has completed Guinevere, in which she stars opposite Irish thespian demigod Stephen Rea. In the film, Polley plays an impressionable young woman who becomes infatuated with the older artist Rea. The two move in together and must negotiate their relationship across a generation.

Now in production for a feature by Genie-winning director John Greyson (The Law of Enclosures), Polley seems downright earthy, even as her star clearly rises. "I like acting, but it wouldn't be the end if I couldn't do it any more. I think I would like to do other things. Like labour negotiation." She's not kidding; Polley has long expressed an interest in the politics of the Left, attending highly publicized protests and making her views known.

For her, the main thrill of the biz is the work itself, and the wonder of watching talents like Rea do their stuff. "He has a great way of describing the art of acting: don't describe what you're feeling, experience it. His whole approach is subtle and minimized. Basically, getting paid to watch him work was a treat."

And who would Polley most like to work with in future? "Ingmar Bergman, if he ever makes a film again. Woody Allen is the only director that I have every copy of their work on video. I'd be afraid to be in one of his films--I'd be nervous I'd ruin it or something." :

Guinevere opens Friday, October 8